


The Well of Songs

by conceptstage



Series: Single Chapter Critical Role [115]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: spoilers for episode 91
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22290685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptstage/pseuds/conceptstage
Summary: Just some speculation about what might happen when they find the Stones.
Series: Single Chapter Critical Role [115]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1436668
Comments: 2
Kudos: 80





	The Well of Songs

Caduceus stepped up the wooden door and steeled himself, taking a deep breath in before knocking confidently. There was nothing for a long moment, just the chirping of the birds in the trees on the other side of the large stone wall and the crashing of waves a few hundred feet behind them. He glanced over his shoulder at the others and it was Beau who waved him onward.

“Knock again,” she said. “Maybe they’re hard of hearing or something.”

Caduceus cleared his throat and turned back to the door, knocking more solidly with his whole fist. There was a crash from inside and Caduceus flinched, taking a big step back from the door. It only took a few seconds for the heavy doors to groan and warp as they were pulled open. A figure stepped out of the shadow of the large oak tree and winced in the direct light, a gnome, old in the face with long white hair that was braided down his back.

“Visitors?” he asked. “We don’t get visitors around here. I thought that I had imagined the first knock! Come in, come in.” He waved his hand and Caduceus hesitated before taking a step forward. Fjord was first to follow him, with the others standing protectively behind them. “What brings you all here to the Well?”

“A well?” Caduceus asked. “Oh, that’s great. I’m, uh, of the family Clay.”

His pale eyes widened and he cheered, reaching out to take Caduceus' much larger hand. “Oh, how wonderful! How wonderful to see a Clay!”

“Are you a Stone, then?”

His smile started to fall but he didn’t release the hand. “No… No, only in name. The Stones have been dead or gone for many, many years. My name is Elias Stone, my wife was the last true descendant of Stone.” He sighed and looked further into the garden and the others followed his eyes. Passed the large oak there was a small cabin hidden in the shade of another large tree and covered in flowering vines and behind it they could see the edge of something made of stone.

“How… How did they die out?”

Elias finally dropped his hand to his side and sighed again. “It was... It was my fault. My wife loved me so much even though our races weren’t able to reproduce together.” He smiled a little, his eyes getting teary. “My lovely water Lily. She was my greatest happiness.”

Jester cleared her throat and stepped forward. “I’m very sorry, was she, perhaps, a half orc maybe? Maybe she had extended family?”

“No, no, the Stones were Water Genasi. Lily passed almost… 150 years ago now.”

Fjord let out a breath that he’d been holding, his shoulders sagging. Beau put her hand reassuringly on his shoulder and he felt Caleb’s presence at his side.

Caduceus gave him a small smile. “I am very sorry for the loss of you wife. May we see the Well?”

Elias grinned. “Ah, The Well of Songs, certainly, certainly. Come along. The Clays and Dusts will always be welcome in this place. It’s been dead ever since she died but maybe there’s something that you can do.” He lead them along the stone path through the well cared for plants, flowers and vegetables and fruit trees. It was like a forest in a garden and Caduceus hadn’t felt so at home in such a long time.

“You have quite the green thumb.”

“Ah, thank you, young man. Thank you, that is how my Lily and I met. She was beautiful as a flower but every plant that she tried to care for withered to nothing within days. She hired me to care for her mother’s garden after her mother passed.”

He lead them passed the homey little cabin and less than fifty feet behind it there was a large well. The well was made of weathered, green gray stone and had a diameter of almost thirty feet. The clear, dark waters glittered in the sunlight filtering in from between the leaves of the oak and there were leaves and flowers floating on the surface, dancing with the breeze.

“It’s… amazing,” Fjord mumbled, leaning over to look at his reflection in the perfect water.

Elias hummed in agreement. “Yes, yes. It used to be so beautiful. A Stone could make this Well play the most beautiful music. Lily would make ripples and the water would sing back to her. But-” he paused and tapped the water, sending out a round ripple through the water. “-it’s been dead since the day she passed.”

Caduceus looked at the water thoughtfully and touched it as well but there was no music. “Maybe this will help.” He pulled the purple crystal out of his bag. He dipped it into the water and the ripple that it sent out overlapped and twisted in the water like a feather in the wind but there was no sound except the ‘drip drip’ as he pulled it back out.

“Oh,” said Elias. “That would have been such a lovely ripple.” He sounded disappointed.

Beau cleared her throat and stepped up behind Fjord, elbowing him gently in the side. “Touch the water.”

Fjord frowned at her. “What? Why?”

“Touch it. You’re a Stone, maybe it’ll sing for you.”

Fjord huffed and rolled his eyes. “Stone isn’t my real name, I’m not… descended from this hero, it’s not the same.”

“No one in the entire world right now is descended from that hero. Maybe the Wildmother is willing to be flexible.”

Fjord sighed and turned to look at the water. He stared at it for a long, tense moment before reaching forward and touching just the tip of his finger into the water. A perfect circle rippled out from his finger and the garden was filled with a heavy ‘C’ note that held until Fjord pulled his finger back out. He blinked in surprise and every eye in the garden turned to him.

“But… But,” Elias stuttered. “But it’s been dead ever since Lily…”

Caduceus smiled knowingly. “Not dead. Dormant. Just waiting. Waiting for a Stone to wake it up.”

Fjord looked between each of their faces, all surprised and kind and loving, and then looked back at his reflection in the water. “Oh shit.”


End file.
